tj cafuir | the Life and Times

Google really sucks. Although devil incarnate Matt Cutts wouldn’t confess, or maybe because the Google Search Quality Team “accidentally” forgot to tell him,  there has been another industry shaking, show you who’s boss happening at the Google SERPs.

Search Engine Land called this the Google “Dewey” Update.  I call it the “Screwey” Update. Why? My beloved site got penalized! If you Goog search using the domain name as keyword, the SERPs wouldn’t show the exact URL. Worst, beloved site landed #50 on the search results. Man, from #26 to #50? That’s insane! And because of this my daily unique visitor stats were devastated. This ultimately translates to poor revenue which actually is the main purpose of our client websites.

We gots screwed alright. Man, this is gonna be a long week. Damn algorithm changes. Making me a whore to the web then suddenly giving us SEOs warm bitchslapping. Well, this is what’s fun in my job. Search Engine Optimization is so unpredictable. But hey Google, the fight ain’t over. Were gonna fight for our rank.

It’s really frustrating that I now have a domain of my own and a quasi-realized Movie Blog and yet find no time to update them both. FlickSide, I mean come on. It’s been a year long dream to have this blog made! Shiz.

Work really is becoming the center of life. There is pressure I tell ya. Especially now that certain responsibilities are being passed to us from the upper management, stepping up to the plate is not an initiative. It’s mandatory. But you know me, I’m off to bat the challenges. Keep ‘em balls coming. But again, the movie blog has to suffer. At least for the time being. If only there’s more than just 24 hours a day and if only I have the capacity to go on by the extended hours. By then, there’ll be no Twitter rants of I’m so swamped with work and I’m tired blah blah. All there’ll be are great movie reviews.

Anyways, I consider my work as a blessing. It’s honestly all that I have. And even if these times are most demanding, all that matters is that there is always something good to come out of it.

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I’m in love with someone. Is she the girl I got caught holding hands with? No, we’re just friends and things are going to stay that that way. There is something more valuable that just being together with someone. I’m so thankful to know her. She’s like cool waters and I’m scorched sand. It’s so good that we’ve met.

So who’s the one I’m in love with? Nah, I haven’t met her yet. Wehe.

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Tomorrow the Marketing Department heads off to the beach! The timing couldn’t be more perfect. Everyone longs for a vacation especially those who’s been clogged with work recently. It’ll be fun seeing them having a good time. And me too! I’ll be having a great time as well. Maghuhukay ako ng mga booby traps tapos mang hihiram ako ng Video Cam. Then kunwari interview, sasabihin ko oi “Urong ka pa dito banda” then kapow! Hulog sa butas huling huli ng camera upload agad sa YouTube.

Wahaha. Good times. Ay salamat.

So I have been switching from Wordpress theme to theme trying to decide which of the hundreds should I use for both Life and Times and FlickSide. I’m quite sure on what I want. Black, empty and easy to edit. It’s just a journal anyway. But heck, I couldn’t find the perfect one. Me mind’s very erratic. Or maybe when it comes to design and presentation, I’m painfully meticulous.

FlickSide is still under construction. And because yours truly is outrageously stupid when it comes to CSS, I had to consult the help of specialists. Hence, I set up a one on one brainstorming session with Mae Paulino of LastLeaf.Org. I tell you, this 22 year old is a treasure in the Web Marketing industry. She is a front-end developer, web designer, blogger and creates Wordpress themes for clients. I told her how useless she made me feel. “Hmm, what was I doing when I was 22?”, “Ah ok, I was a mixing gin-pomelo, a lot.”

Well now that I have a clear understanding on what the current Flick Side theme can offer in terms of Usability , all I need to do now is add content. I bought a notebook with Audrey Hepburn on the cover. It now serves as the “Flick Side” book where you could find the 5 S of User Experience:

• Strategy
• Scope
• Structure
• Skeleton
• Surface

Every campaign should involve these elements. And although that UX is the analysis of user-behavior, which would obviously be available once a site has been launched and has amassed unique visitors, I find the practice as great preparation. Basically, I will dictate what my audience would experience.

Thanks Mae for the help. And to Mito Pontillas, the SEO with many names, who btw is asking for a 500 peso referral fee. So until the next UX, the theme remains the same.